The mum of Royal Navy Engineering Technician Marine Engineer Charles Warrender, who was serving on an operation to stop drugs supply routes and was found dead yards from his ship after a heroin overdose with his wallet missing, says she thinks he was murdered.

Charles was a popular man on the frigate HMS Richmond and had joined the service in September 2012.

But less than three years into what he had hoped would be a long and glittering career serving his country the 22-year-old was found dead and his death has raised lots of questions for his distraught mother Kate.

The frigate was to be stationed in the island, best known for luxury holidays and honeymoons, as part of Operation Kipion, designed to establish peace in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean while tackling drug smugglers and pirates threatening the global sea routes in the region.

Extremely popular among his crewmates, Charles was recognised as man that others could rely on and on the night of his death had even taken measures to ensure that one of his friends who may have drank too much got home safely.

Charles Warrender was popular with his crewmates and was said to be the most sober the night of his death (Image: Grimsby Telegraph WS))

However after dropping his friend off at their boat, the HMS Richmond, Charles was never seen alive by any of his crew mates again.

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The full sequence of events of Friday, May 29, 2015, in the Seychelles capital Victoria are still unclear.

But extensive research his mother Kate has developed a timeline of the events that took place.

An inquest heard it started with Charles and four of his friends leaving the HMS Richmond at 5pm, having booked themselves into a beach hotel for the remainder of the weekend while on leave.

After a quiet meal together they went to the Eden Marina in a taxi, where they spent the rest of the night at the Boardwalk VIP Lounge.

Also on that very evening, Mrs Lindsay Skoll, High Commissioner of the British High Commission in the Seychelles hosted a reception on board the HMS Richmond to celebrate the Queen's birthday.

Present at the reception also was the President and vice-president of the Seychelles, government ministers and distinguished guests, including Commodore Will Warrander (no relation), UK Maritime Component Commander and Deputy Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces, the head of Operation Kipion.

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His mum found how throughout the night Charles was deemed to be the most sober among all of his friends, something confirmed by fellow crew member Jake Willoughby.

He recalled: "By all accounts Charles had handled his drink the best that night, nobody would have said he was drunk, and I know from some of the sessions in Portsmouth that he can fairly handle his alcohol.

"He was six foot four, not what you would call a lightweight."

Charles was tasked with arranging transport and venues for the sailors to visit, and while at the VIP Lounge he was seen speaking to a young woman, Madiha Philo, who invited the group to drink with her and her friends.

Later Ms Philo would provide a statement saying she had asked to see Charles' identification and could remember the amount of money he had in his wallet.

At around 11.30pm one of Charles' crew members had had enough of the night and asked if someone could help him get back to the ship as he had a shift the next morning. At this point Charles left with his friend and headed off in a taxi with him.

After dropping his friend off in the taxi, Charles planned on returning to the bar, but was never seen alive by his friends again.

He was discovered dead the following morning.

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It has been estimated following a post mortem that Charles died shortly after dropping his friend off, however an analysis of his bank statements show that money was taken from a machine close to where his body was found.

£200 was removed, and attempts were made to remove more money but the transaction failed.

When he was found he had no money, wallet, shoes, socks or watch and had pure white heroin sprinkled over his body.

A toxicology report written by Dr Simon Elliott, Consultant Forensic Toxicologist, showed that Charles had not drunk a fatal amount of alcohol and that he had the presence of "illicit heroin" in his system.

A later inquiry would state that is is believed that the drugs were administered to him "by a third party."

Charles was buried with full military honours (Image: Grimsby Telegraph WS)

Mum Kate said: She said: "I know that something horrible happened Charles and I am sure that he was murdered on that island.

"Everything about his death points to some form of foul play, how he was found yards from the ship, how his wallet and watch were missing, and how he had these drugs sprinkled over his body."

His friend Jake Willoughby, who has since left the Royal Navy partially over the circumstances surrounding Charles' death, said that he believes there was something "very suspicious" surrounding the whole incident.

He said: "There was definitely something very suspicious about Charles' death, I in no way believe that he would have taken those drugs.

"I knew Charles throughout our basic training and we became very good friends, and the man that I knew would never touch a drug like that, even if he was out having a good drink, Charles could handle himself.

"It seemed to me that the whole investigation into the death was flawed, and the Seychelles authorities kept trying to put roadblocks in the way and were just not cooperative at all.

"After what happened I just couldn't hack being in the Navy anymore, it just lost all of the fun and my passion died.

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"The Seychelles is a darker place than it seems, it was only a couple of days before we arrived that we were told of the deaths of a number of soldiers there in very strange circumstances, something is not right there."

In the 13 months leading up to Charles' death three soldiers from around the world had died in the Seychelles.

HMS Richmond

Royal Canadian Navy Lieutenant Andrew Webster died on January 2, 2014, in his hotel room of asphyxiation, days after destroying a large quantity of drugs that had been seized, which was heavily publicised in the media.

Ex-Navy Seals Jeffery Reynold and Mark Kennedy, who were working for the Trident Group, a security service, were found dead in their cabins on board the Maersk Alabama due to a suspected alcohol and heroin overdose. Family and friends of both men have stated they would never touch the drug, and both were highly decorated.

Kate Warrender added: "The Seychelles is painted as this tropical holiday paradise, but that is simply not the case, there is a very dark and corrupt undercurrent that is rarely ever publicised.

"The authorities there have done nothing but put roadblocks in the way of any real investigation, and vital CCTV has gone missing. Even the local newspaper there said that they suspected foul play.

"It is all very murky and his former crew mates days afterwards told me that they suspected murder.

"Since his death the Royal Navy have been just tremendous with our family, even inviting us down to have dinner on the HMS Richmond, and they just would not do that if he had actually died from taking drugs on a night out.

"All I really want is answers about what happened my boy."

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Charles was buried with full military honours and had his name placed on the Royal Navy Roll of Honour in St Martin-in-the-fields, London.

Kate was even invited down to have dinner with the crew on HMS Richmond once it returned back to the UK, where she had a meal with a number of crew members and senior officials who were all "deeply saddened" about what had happened to Charlie.

Kate said: "The way that we have been treated by the Royal Navy since his death has been brilliant, but that in a way further adds to my belief that something happened to him.

"If he had just taken drugs and died while he was out on a night with friends they would not have cared for us like this, or given Charles proper military honours.

"It all just seems a bit strange. Commodore Warrender, who is one of the leading figures in the Royal Navy even wrote to us himself expressing his sympathy about what has happened, and someone of his position would not contact you unless there was a good reason.

"I have issues with the way the investigation was done in the first place, but that is probably something that I would not have been able to affect anyway.

"The Seychelles authorities and police were uncooperative from start to finish, and if they are going to be like that then there is not much that you can do."

A Royal Navy Spokesperson said:“Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the family and friends of ET Warrender.

“An inquest into his death was conducted in June 2016, following a local police inquiry. The Royal Navy co-operated fully with the inquest and respects the outcome.”